Big Update: What's Behind the Staff Changes in Türkiye's Security Sector Leadership?

Photo: Kayhan Ozer, Pool via AP

On August 3, Türkiye's Supreme Military Council, which meets once a year under the chairmanship of the president or his deputy, appointed a new chief of the General Staff and commanders of the ground and air forces.

Metin Gürak, who previously commanded the 2nd Army Corps, became the new chief of the General Staff. The position remained vacant after Gürak's predecessor, Yaşar Güler, was appointed as defense minister in Erdoğan's new cabinet. Traditionally, the way to the leadership of the General Staff lies through the command of the ground forces, but this time the choice fell on a different candidate. As they say on the sidelines, in addition to military traditions, the loyalty of candidates to the top leadership of the state plays an important role. 

Metin Gürak

The council promoted 63 officers to the ranks of generals or admirals, bringing their total number in the Turkish Armed Forces to 286. At the same time, 43 generals and admirals were dismissed.

 Yaşar Güler

One of the important results of the meeting was the fact that the first woman in history - a rear admiral - appeared in Türkiye. 45-year-old Gökchen Firat was promoted. In 1998, she successfully graduated from the Naval College, and in 2004, she became the first Turkish woman to command a ship.

 Gökchen Firat  

Military experts note that the new army leadership has significantly "rejuvenated", and its combat experience and professionalism testify to the desire to make the armed forces more modern and combat-ready. According to the famous Turkish journalist Murat Yetkin, this is in line with the long-term political goals of Erdoğan, who sees his third and, most likely, last presidential term as an opportunity to enter the country's history as a winner. "If Türkiye can restore its economy, the country will be able to reach new horizons in foreign policy and security policy," he notes.

The newly appointed chief of the General Staff, Metin Gürak, is known for the successful operations of the Turkish armed forces under his command against Kurdish fighters and terrorists of the Islamic State. The fact that the fight against terrorism, in particular the terrorist PKK, and Kurdish militants in Syria take center stage in the security policy of the new Erdoğan cabinet is evidenced by the previous appointments of the former foreign policy adviser to the president Ibrahim Kalin as the head of the National Intelligence Organization MIT and ex-chief intelligence officer Hakan Fidan on the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Both of them devoted a significant part of their careers to the "Middle Eastern" dossier: negotiations on the Kurdish question, Iran, Syria and ... Russia.

Ibrahim Kalin

It is too early to say whether the desire to strengthen the combat capability of the Turkish army is caused by the threat that Türkiye feels from an increasingly aggressive and less predictable Moscow. But it’s rather for the first time since the failed coup attempt of 2016 (the main beneficiary of which was the Kremlin and its Eurasian proxies in Türkiye), that supporters of transatlantic views stopped feeling like outsiders in the highest ranks of Turkish security and defense sector.

The fact that the new government did not find a place for such political heavyweights as Hulusi Akar (former defense minister) and Suleiman Soylu (ex-head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) shows that, despite the harsh pre-election rhetoric, Erdoğan is ready to say goodbye to nationalist hardliners and pro-Russian hawks in his immediate environment.

The changes in the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs were not limited to the replacement of the minister, who was accused of corruption schemes, ties to organized crime, money laundering, and even drug trafficking. Diplomatic circles say that the reason for Soylu's "forced retirement" was his toxicity toward the West. After all, the ex-Minister of Internal Affairs did not choose words particularly, accusing the USA and European partners of wanting to weaken Türkiye and overthrow its legitimate government - which made the work of colleagues from the Foreign Affairs Department much more difficult.

After the elections, Ali Yerlikaya became the new Minister of Internal Affairs and has been the governor of Istanbul since 2018. However, the new appointments did not end there. Already on August 2 (a day before the big rotation in the armed forces), Erdoğan signed a decree on the replacement of top management in 52 regional police departments. As a result of the decision, 80 senior police officers were transferred to other positions, and 24 of the 52 chiefs left active duty altogether. This was the largest rotation in the National Police since 2016 and was seen by many experts as a "lustration" of names close to former minister Suleiman Soylu.

 Ali Yerlikaya

For example, among those who lost their positions as a result of the recent changes - Ankara Police Chief Servet Yilmaz, who is known for entering the inner circle of Soylu. During his time he initiated an investigation into the case of FETO (the so-called "terrorist organization of Fethullah Gülen") against the current head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs when he was the governor of Istanbul. At the same time, the police chiefs of Istanbul, Adana, and Antalya, who were not “created” by Soylu, kept their positions.

The representatives of the new team are united not only by their loyalty to the new leader but also by their moderate views and less politicization. Last but not least, such changes are intended to strengthen the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the eve of local elections, which are important for the ruling Justice and Development Party and Erdoğan personally.

On one hand, the loyalty of governors and regional police chiefs to the president and the new minister is a necessary condition for ensuring security and local control during the election campaign and election process.

On the other hand, the government's intentions to "recapture" from the opposition the key millionaire cities and outposts of the secular and liberal "coastal belt" of Türkiye from Istanbul and Izmir to Antalya require not only strict control but also the support of voters. With the old team of ardent nationalists and Eurasians, this task would be almost impossible. Big plans for the future require a big update today.